Saturday
I think that I forgot to post last weekend...terrible thing is, I don't even remember what happened! But I can't forget to post this weekend, the last weekend of 2012!
Today my mom decided that Harry is ready to be riden again. She was the only one who rode him while I dealt with Brie, who is feeling super good because she had her arthritis injections again. Harry sounded really good on the board and my mom said that he is paying a lot more attention to her now, which is really fantastic because for a while there he was ignoring us and just trying to follow Nina around. He looked like he was concentrating on her and didn't do any tap dancing and never broke gait on the board. It seems like his month off of riding and just doing groundwork has done him a lot of good!
I found out today that during the week, Samantha was out along with Jane and her grandkids to all ride. Samantha's mom was cleaning the stalls and the horse they were most scared of was Brie! That makes me kind of sad, that after all of this time she still is perceived as the crazy horse. She is an absolute doll when it comes to children and she has excellent ground manners. She is so polite when you go to clean her stall, she moves out of the way for you and everything. She even poops in the same spot all of the time so that there isn't a huge mess! So when I found out that Samantha's mom was terrified of cleaning Brie's stall because she was scared that Brie was going to hurt her, it really made me feel awful. Brie is very misunderstood. And it doesn't help that people still talk about her. We don't even show her anymore. I mean, just because she refused to walk in her classes and did her nervous crow-hopping that doesn't mean she's a dangerous horse. She's nothing like some of the other horses I've seen trained at the barn that are actually very dangerous, throwing their riders off of their backs and slamming people into walls while they're being groomed. I mean, Brie is even perfect for the farrier. I just don't get what makes people think she's this evil horse.
Sunday
My mom rode Harry again today and he was just as good if not better than yesterday! I can't wait to get on him and see how he is now.
I only rode Brie again today. She just wanted to fly! She is definitely feeling younger and spunkier now that she isn't in pain anymore. I had two reins on her today to try and work on her collection. She's gotten away with doing whatever for a pretty long time and I'd like to fix that. After we worked, I let her canter around the arena a couple of times and I could tell she was having fun! I swear, she should have been a Thoroughbred. She would've been a great race horse! She could have cantered for hours. Just imagine if I let her gallop!
Well, next time I post will be 2013. I hope that you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and that your 2013 is filled with success!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Days 269 & 270
Saturday
My mom worked with Harry again today while I rode Brie and, surprise!, Nina for the second time this month! Brie is definitely feeling her arthritis now that it's getting colder and colder out, so we're having the vet come out this week to give her a cortisone shot. Poor Brie. I know how she feels! My knee is aching as well in this cold. I wish I could say more about training with her, but she's really just coasting along for now. She definitely doesn't want to give up speed, so now she just has walk and largo. So I guess I will be working on getting her to slow down again to a nice corto.
Sunday
I had the job of working Harry today. He is still taking his time off from riding. I think that maybe next month we might start riding him again. He is so much sassier with me than with my mom. He doesn't fishtail as much as he used to, but there were definitely a few times when he did and then he got that stubborn look in his eye like "No! I am not going by you!". We got that sorted out. I also did some Friendly Game with him in between lunge rounds. It was a nice little breather. He is still scared of the rope swinging at him from a distance to go over his back, so we're working on little swings right now. Unfortunately I canceled my Parelli Connect membership earlier this month because I just didn't have the time for it. Hopefully I am able to go back and use it again some more to get more ideas for Harry.
I rode Brie for a little bit today, as she was limping a little after my mom rode her. We put lineament on her, so hopefully that helped. I just realized today how young she really is! It's strange, because in the Paso Fino world, at least the part I've been exposed to, you never hear of horses over 15 or so. I don't know where they go, probably just out to pasture, but no one talks about them and if you have a 15 year old horse, jeez, you are knocking at death's door! But in reality, horses are supposed to live to about 30 ideally, right? Brie is only 11. If she lives to 30, that's a whole 19 years from now! I'll be 39! It's weird to think about it like that! I hope that she is still around when I have kids, that way they can love her just as much as I do.
My mom worked with Harry again today while I rode Brie and, surprise!, Nina for the second time this month! Brie is definitely feeling her arthritis now that it's getting colder and colder out, so we're having the vet come out this week to give her a cortisone shot. Poor Brie. I know how she feels! My knee is aching as well in this cold. I wish I could say more about training with her, but she's really just coasting along for now. She definitely doesn't want to give up speed, so now she just has walk and largo. So I guess I will be working on getting her to slow down again to a nice corto.
Sunday
I had the job of working Harry today. He is still taking his time off from riding. I think that maybe next month we might start riding him again. He is so much sassier with me than with my mom. He doesn't fishtail as much as he used to, but there were definitely a few times when he did and then he got that stubborn look in his eye like "No! I am not going by you!". We got that sorted out. I also did some Friendly Game with him in between lunge rounds. It was a nice little breather. He is still scared of the rope swinging at him from a distance to go over his back, so we're working on little swings right now. Unfortunately I canceled my Parelli Connect membership earlier this month because I just didn't have the time for it. Hopefully I am able to go back and use it again some more to get more ideas for Harry.
I rode Brie for a little bit today, as she was limping a little after my mom rode her. We put lineament on her, so hopefully that helped. I just realized today how young she really is! It's strange, because in the Paso Fino world, at least the part I've been exposed to, you never hear of horses over 15 or so. I don't know where they go, probably just out to pasture, but no one talks about them and if you have a 15 year old horse, jeez, you are knocking at death's door! But in reality, horses are supposed to live to about 30 ideally, right? Brie is only 11. If she lives to 30, that's a whole 19 years from now! I'll be 39! It's weird to think about it like that! I hope that she is still around when I have kids, that way they can love her just as much as I do.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Days 267 & 268
Saturday
I was super exhausted today from staying up really late the past two days working on finals. Finals week is awful.
I only rode Brie today. She was really good, I think she knew I was tired. She wanted to go really fast, so I let her because it felt nice to just let go. Nothing really productive today.
I watched my mom work with Harry. While I was in LA last week, she started working him on the ground. He is taking a break from riding. He was setting his head really nicely and looked like he had to think a lot. He didn't tap dance with his back legs the entire time she was working with him, so I think he's making progress.
Sunday
Today I got to work with Harry. My mom taught me what she was teaching him. We let him go out on the long lunge line to shake off his energy and stretch out before we switch him onto the shorter line. He is wearing bell boots on his front legs and weighted bracelets on his back legs. We're trying to make him remember to keep his legs in rhythm. So on the short line, we work on flexing his head towards us while moving away with his back legs, crossing all of his legs over as he rotates around us. After he does that, we hook him up to our makeshift Pessoa system and lunge him like that with a snaffle bit. He seems to be getting on pretty well. The true test will be when we get to ride him again, and I'm not sure when that will be.
After I worked with Harry, I got to ride Nina! I love riding her since I don't get to ride her that often. She is so cool! Of course since there are such long gaps in time when I get to ride her, she is always different in her progression. She got so fast! She goes as fast as Brie now! She seems really happy too. She is very responsive to the leg and such a smooth ride. Just the coolest little horse ever. If only Brie and Harry could get their acts together like Nina did!
I was super exhausted today from staying up really late the past two days working on finals. Finals week is awful.
I only rode Brie today. She was really good, I think she knew I was tired. She wanted to go really fast, so I let her because it felt nice to just let go. Nothing really productive today.
I watched my mom work with Harry. While I was in LA last week, she started working him on the ground. He is taking a break from riding. He was setting his head really nicely and looked like he had to think a lot. He didn't tap dance with his back legs the entire time she was working with him, so I think he's making progress.
Sunday
Today I got to work with Harry. My mom taught me what she was teaching him. We let him go out on the long lunge line to shake off his energy and stretch out before we switch him onto the shorter line. He is wearing bell boots on his front legs and weighted bracelets on his back legs. We're trying to make him remember to keep his legs in rhythm. So on the short line, we work on flexing his head towards us while moving away with his back legs, crossing all of his legs over as he rotates around us. After he does that, we hook him up to our makeshift Pessoa system and lunge him like that with a snaffle bit. He seems to be getting on pretty well. The true test will be when we get to ride him again, and I'm not sure when that will be.
After I worked with Harry, I got to ride Nina! I love riding her since I don't get to ride her that often. She is so cool! Of course since there are such long gaps in time when I get to ride her, she is always different in her progression. She got so fast! She goes as fast as Brie now! She seems really happy too. She is very responsive to the leg and such a smooth ride. Just the coolest little horse ever. If only Brie and Harry could get their acts together like Nina did!
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